Posts Tagged ‘entry-level’

Following up on their K-7, Pentax has now come up with an entry-level K-x. While it doesn’t bring anything groundbreaking that wasn’t already seen on the K-7, it packs in many of the features seen on many competitors’ midrange model, and perhaps pending reviews on image quality and disregarding the overall Pentax system upgrade options, is probably the best choice out there currently for the beginning photographer/student.

The big headline features:

12.4MP CMOS (different from the K-7 14.6MP sensor, but interestingly also uses CMOS unlike all previous Pentaxes which used CCDs)

ISO up to 12.8k

Live-view with face-detect AF

720p, 24fps video

4.7fps continuous shooting

$650 MSRP with 18-55 kit lens (and likely to drop further once it gets off pre-order)

With the specs listed, this is a camera you’d expect in the high-hundreds, competing with the likes of Canon’s Rebel T1i or Nikon’s D5000/D90, yet it’s got a price closer to that of the entry-level Rebel XS or D3000.

A comparison:

Pentax K-x comparison

Camera

Canon Rebel XS

Nikon D3000

Pentax K-x

Nikon D5000

Canon Rebel T1i

Sensor, crop

10MP, 1.6x

10MP, 1.5x

12MP, 1.5x

12MP, 1.5x

15MP, 1.6x

ISO range

100-1600

100-3200

100-12800

200-6400

100-12800

Live-view?

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Live view AF

Yes

None

Yes, face-detect

Yes, face-detect

Yes, face-detect

Video

None

None

1280x720, 24fps

1280x720, 24fps

1920x1080, 20fps

AF

7pt, 1 cross-type

11pt, no cross

11pt, 9 cross-type

11pt, 1 cross-type

9pt, 1 cross-type

Continuous FPS

3fps jpg, 1.5fps raw

3fps

4.7fps

4fps

3.4fps

Image stabilization

lens-based

lens-based

sensor-based

lens-based

lens-based

Size

127 x 97 x 61mm

127 x 97 x 64mm

122 x 91 x 69mm

127 x 104 x 79mm

130 x 97 x 61mm

Weight

450g

485g

516g

560g

480g

Price (with kit lens, Amazon)

$499.95

$529.95

$649.95

$719.63

$781.89

In a comparison with the $500 entry-level cameras, the K-x blows them away in nearly aspect, and goes toe-to-toe or even exceeds the D5000 and Rebel T1i in every single category, despite being significantly cheaper (especially once the street price drops lower from MSRP)

Interestingly enough, the Pentax K-x will come in a variety of colors, including an ultra-spiffy red (below), the space white shown above, and your ordinary black.

Interestingly enough, Pentax Japan features a site where you can come up with your own custom color scheme, and apparently order it as well, which personally is an insanely appealing prospect.